Baffling hic-up first time out today
Printed From: CorrectCraftFan.com
Category: Repairs and Maintenance
Forum Name: Engine Repair
Forum Discription: Engine problems and solutions
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=48614
Printed Date: November-27-2024 at 7:30am
Topic: Baffling hic-up first time out today
Posted By: gt40KS
Subject: Baffling hic-up first time out today
Date Posted: April-28-2020 at 8:14pm
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Got out for the first time today and all was going great for a couple hours. Drove all over the lake to test the boat and survey the lake for debris, etc with no issues - all within perfect specs. Stopped the boat to relax for a bit and take a dip in the still too cold water and then decided we''d better be getting back to the dock since weather was supposed to be coming in in the next couple of hours. About half way back the engine suddenly cut out, sputtered a couple of times and died. Cranking several different times and checking all the breakers I could not ascertain what the problem could be. At first the engine would sputter once every time I tried to start it but then just continue to crank, like either no fuel or no spark. Just before it died, all readings were normal - volts, temp and oil - and the engine wasn't hot to the touch. Unbelievably, we were able to flag down one of the only 2 other boats on the lake and get a tow back to the dock. On the trailer at dry-off I tried once again and of course still no luck. Here's the baffling part .... about an hour or so later, finally back at the house I decided to try it one last time before putting her away and she started right up. No hint of a problem. Everything still normal, no sputtering, no rough idle. Just smooth and responsive. Hmmm.... any guesses?? I can't diagnose a problem that now does not exist so maybe someone here has a thought or perhaps something like this has come up before? -- For those that don't know my history, this is a 95' SN GT-40. i.e. no fuel cell. Engine was a new long block last year and most of the parts around it are new as well. The only things not replaced at this point is the water circulation pump, fresh water pump, throttle body and high pressure fuel pump. ------------- JCCI 1995 Ski Nautique GT40 |
Replies:
Posted By: KENO
Date Posted: April-28-2020 at 10:07pm
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Strictly a guess Joe, but I think you should maybe cut that list of 4 things you haven't replaced down to 3 and replace the high pressure fuel pump but maybe do a little troubleshooting first. Sounds like something electrical heated up and later on it cooled off and started working again. That leaves ya' about a dozen or so choices in the ignition and fuel systems I'd drive around in circles near the launch ramp with a spark tester and a fuel pressure gauge trying to duplicate the conditions and waiting for it to happen again 
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Posted By: gt40KS
Date Posted: April-29-2020 at 12:40am
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LOL..... Well Ken, short of driving around in circles with a bunch of equipment and hoping it will happen again I was hoping one of the big brains on the site might have some insight first. Did I mention the water was really cold? I do agree with the hot electrical possibility and had already thought perhaps the HP fuel pump but figured this was a good place to start since I was back home anyway. I'll maybe have some time toward the end of the week to give it a test run. Or circle in this case  ------------- JCCI 1995 Ski Nautique GT40 |
Posted By: SNobsessed
Date Posted: April-29-2020 at 8:54am
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If it happens again, try squirting small amount of fuel into intake. If it starts, that suggests the fuel system is at fault. IIRC there is a relay that can cause FI to fail. You might want to get a spare but not change it until motor quits. ------------- “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Ben Franklin |
Posted By: NCH20SKIER
Date Posted: April-29-2020 at 10:33am
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My '96 sport had a similar symptoms and I finally found the short piece of fuel line within the canister had a split about 3/8" long. I am no heavy hitter on the site and often rely upon the wisdom of others but I would give strong consideration to a fuel delivery issue ------------- '05 206 Limited '88 BFN |
Posted By: gun-driver
Date Posted: April-29-2020 at 1:14pm
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I’m with Keno go for a ride armed with the equipment Ken mentioned along with a jumper wire to jump the fuel pumps, that will take the relays out of the equation. Sounds to me that something is heating up and once cooled down went back to normal operation, could be a faulty sensor could be the relays, could be distributor, could be fuel pump. Hard to pin point without more data, go drive around in circles and gather more data. |
Posted By: fanofccfan
Date Posted: April-29-2020 at 1:42pm
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Symptoms sound like my old 96 gt 40. i replaced relays and the problem went away. Hope yours is as simple. ------------- 2004 196 LE Ski 1969 Marauder 19 1978 Ski |
Posted By: KENO
Date Posted: April-29-2020 at 2:57pm
When you talk about jumpering the pumps, if you mean grounding the STO connector with the jumper wire, you still need both the ECA relay and the Fuel pump relay to be functional to make the pumps run. Maybe you mean something else Maybe I'm screwed up
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gun-driver wrote:Posted By: gun-driver
Date Posted: April-29-2020 at 3:47pm
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The relays still have to be in but the pumps will run continuously and if I remember right (which may be wrong) is that bypasses the relay pump wise. 
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Posted By: KENO
Date Posted: April-29-2020 at 6:44pm
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The jumper provides the ground manually that is normally accomplished by the ECA The flow path of power to the ECA and the pumps is still the same The manual ground takes the place of the internal ground that is accomplished in the ECA when the PIP sees 300 ish RPM and completes the circuit to ground automatically. No PIP signal.........no ground..........no power to the relays for the ECA or pumps, so the pumps won't run With Key ON Engine OFF and the jumper grounded, the 12 volts gets to the pumps the same way as it normally does, With the manual jumper grounded the computer is happy and keeps the pumps running till the jumper is removed or the key is turned to OFF or you could pull either relay and the pumps will turn off. |
Posted By: gun-driver
Date Posted: April-30-2020 at 12:14am
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Well there ya go. All I remember is when I was having fuel supply issues with my ‘95 it was necessary to jump the pumps to bleed the rail when it wouldn’t start after shutting off for a period of time when hot/normal operating temp. He could be running into that issue . |
Posted By: KENO
Date Posted: April-30-2020 at 9:04am
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There's lots of good info from Lewy in the link below telling how the STO makes things happen when you ground it with the jumper along with plenty of other troubleshooting info http://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=25775&PN=2&title=99-sn-gt40-fuel-supply" rel="nofollow - link |
Posted By: gun-driver
Date Posted: April-30-2020 at 1:32pm
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That was a long read and I remember following along guess that gives Joe some tests to start with. And again no final response/fix from the OP but I assume it was his ECM. |
Posted By: gt40KS
Date Posted: April-30-2020 at 11:07pm
Lots of great information and advise to try - thanks! I was planning to head back out to the lake tomorrow to get started but of course we've been called in on an "emergency" diagnose and fix-it job. If we can get things wrapped up by the end of the day I'll probably make it an early Saturday venture. Just hope the lake doesn't get too crowded for my constant circling  ------------- JCCI 1995 Ski Nautique GT40 |